Pruning shears



March 19, 1935. w. R. SMITH PRUNING SHEARS Filed. Nov. 5, 1952 INVENTOR W1 111 am R.Smith.

ATTORNE- Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UNITED S ATES- I PRUNING SHEARS 7 William R. Smith, Watertown, Conn, assignor to Seymour Smith & Son, Inc., Oakville, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut. 3

Application November 3, 1932, serial No. 641,011

5 Claims.

This invention relates to pruning shears, and more particularly to shears in which the blade is formed separate from and is very rigidly secured to one of the handles thereof.

One object of this inventionis to provide a pruning shears of the above nature having an anchor block provided with an elongated nose for. increasing the reinforcing support of the blade.

A further-object is to provide a shears of the above nature in which the side plates of the blade carrying handle are extendedforwardly to increase the lateral support of the sides of the cutting blade and the lateral bearing of the shears.

A further object of the invention is-to provide a, pruning shears of the above nature'which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and manipulate,

compact, ornamentalin appearance, and very,

efficient and durable in use;

With these and other objects in view, there have been illustrated on the accompanying drawing, two forms in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing: 7

Fig. 1 represents a view in side elevation of one form of pruning shearscertain' parts being broken away to show the extended side walls of the blade operating handle, and the shears being in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the anchor block as it appears when detached from the shears.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the anvil plate.

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of a modified form of shears, shown in open position and partly in section.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the anvil plate employed in' the modified form of the invention. v I

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the anchor block employed in said modified form.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary bottom edge view of the cutting'end of the modified form of pruning shears.

This invention is an improvement over that disclosed in a prior application, Serial No. 565,978, filed September 30, 1931.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numerals 10 and 11 indicate the movable and stationary opcrating handles respectively of the first illustrated form of shears, the handles 10 and 11 bestationary handle 11, as by a rivet 13, (see Fig. 4). 5'

The forward end of the movable handle member 10 is extended forwardly anddownwardly to provide a pair of parallel sidewalls 14 integral therewith. Between the parallel side walls 14" is fitted the rear portion of a cutting blade 15 and an anchor block 16 for said blade, which parts will be hereinafter more fully described."

The forward 'end of thestationary handle 11 is made similar to the handle 10' and includes a pair of parallel side walls 1'? which are adapted to frictionally embrace the walls 14 of the movable handle member therebetween. The two sets 7 of parallel walls 14 and 17, andqthe rear end or tang 18of the blade 15 are provided withan alining aperture 19 for receiving a fulcrum bolt 20, by means of'which the handlemembers 10 and 11 are pivotally secured together.

The upperedges of the parallel side-walls 1'7 of the stationary handle member 11, as shown in Figs. 1' and 4, are made arcuate in shape, while the inner edges thereof are made straight for receiving the opposed flanges 21"of a soft metal anvil plate 22. The plate 22 is provided with. a central upstanding fin 23 which is adapted to:be held between the sidewalls 17' of the handle 11 3o bymeans of'a'detachable screw stud 24 passing through the apertures in said wallsl? and fin 23. The detail construction of the anvil plate of the first form of the invention is clearly shown in Fig. 3. y I

The side walls 17 have inwardly offset sections 25-held in flat contact by a rivet 26. y

The blade 15, as shown in Fig. 1,is. held between the side walls 14 of the movable handle member by the fulcrum bolt 20 previously referred to, and in order to prevent the cutting blade from rotatingwithrespect'to said handle 10,,the rear end or tang 18 of the blade 15' is provided with a projecting tapered nose 28, which is adapted to be tightly'fitted within a V-shaped recess 29 formed in the front edge of the anchor block 16. The anchor block 16 is rigidly secured between the side walls 14 of the handle 10 by a pair of rivets 30 located at opposite sides of the V-shaped recess 29 of the block 16.

In order to lock the pruning shears in closed position when not in use, a wire loop 31 is pivotally attached to the free'end of the handle 10, and is adapted to engage a bent-over hook member 32 on the handle 11. As shown in Fig. 4, the .55

hook member 32 is formed integral with the rear end of the leaf-spring 12. When the shears are in use, the loop member 31 may be frictionally retained in a pair of opposed recesses 33 formed in the lower parallel edges of the handle member 10.

For the purpose of preventing the hand of the operator from slipping too far forwardly on the movable handle 10, a U-shaped curved finger guard 34 may be conveniently located adjacent the forward end of said handle 10, thus holding his entire hand in the most eflicient operating position. The finger guard is provided with a pair of parallel fiat ears 35 which are adapted to embrace the outer surface of said handle 10 and are secured thereto by means of a pair of rivets 36. The rivets 36 are also adapted to pass through the anchor block 16, and thus increase the rigidity of the construction.

One advantage of this invention is that the enlarged forwardly extending side walls 14 of the handlemember 10 embrace substantially the en? tiresurfaceiof the'blade tang 18 to the rear of the line 37 where the tang begins, thus holding the blade very securely in position, and preventing the possibility of lateral play during use.

A further advantage lies in the fact that the forward arcuate shoulders 38 of the enlarged side walls 14 serve to hold the work in the most efiicient cutting position.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, the shears are identical in all respects to the shears shown in Fig. 1, except in the construction ofthe anchor block '39, the anvil plate 40 and the forward edge 41 of the parallelside walls 42 of the movable handle. The anchor block 39 of the modified form (Fig. 4) is provided with a forwardly extending nose piece 43 forsubstantially increasing the straight bearing edge 44; against which the upper edge of the cutting. blade 15 abuts. The rear end of the anvil plate 40 in the modified form is provided'with apair of spaced parallel projections 45 preferably formed integral with saidanvil plate 40. As shown inFig. 4, the nose piece 43 of the anchor block 39.. is frictionally fitted between the projections 45, and said projections 45 serve as lateral guide bearings for the side walls of said nose piece 39.-

The forward curved edges 41 of the parallel side walls 42 lie considerably behind the edge of the nose' piece 43, the latter serving to prevent the work from getting too far back.

While there have been disclosed in this specification two forms in which the inventionmay be embodied it is to befunderstood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes, all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims. Having thus fully described the invention, what ingthe rearend of said blade, an anvil plate secured to the forward end of the other shear member, the walls of said blade holding shear member being extended forwardly of said unsharpened edge to provide additional bearing surfaces for the sharpened section of said blade and the other shearmember, said forwardly extending walls forming work-engaging shoulders to prevent the work from slipping back beyond the sharpened section of said blade.

2. In a pruning shears, a pair of pivotally connected interfitting shear members of U-shaped cross-section, an anvil plate securedto the forward end of one of said shear members, a blade secured to the forward end of the other shear member, an anchor block for said blade, said anchor block havinga forwardly extending nose to engage the edge of said blade and reinforce it, said anvil plate having a pair of rearwardly extending parallel spaced integral projections, said projections adapted to include said nose therebetween and serve as lateral thrust bearings for said anchor block.

3. In a pruning shears, a pair of pivotally connected interfitting shear members of U-shaped cross-section, an anvil plate secured to the forward end of one of said shear members, a blade secured to the forward end of the other shear member in alinement with said anvil plate, an anchor plate for said blade, said anchor block having a forwardly extending'nose piece, and said anvil plate having a .pair of rearwardly extending side lugs to embrace and guide said nose piece.

4. In a pruning shears, a pair of pivotally connected interfitting shear members of U-shaped cross-section, an anvil plate secured to the forwardend of one of said shear members, a blade secured to the forward end of the other shear member, an anchor block for said blade, said anchor block having a forwardly extending nose piece, and said anvil plate having a pair of rearwardly extending side lugs to embrace and guide said nose piece.

5. Pruning shears comprising two levers of the first class pivoted together at a single point, one lever comprising an operating arm and a platencarrying arm carrying a platen having an active face laterally offset relative to thepivot axis, and the other lever comprising an operating arm, a cutter arm having a cutting edge laterally offset relative to the pivot axis a distance equal to the lateral offset of the platen, and a cam edge at the root of the cutting edge closely adjacent the inner end of the platen and having an angular extent substantially equal to the angle of relative movement of the twolevers.

WILLIAM R. SMITH.

' CERTiFlCATE or eonnrerioN.

Patent No. 1,995,044. March 19, 1935.

WILLI AM R. SMITH.

certified that error appears in the printed specification of the orrection as toliows: Page 2, second column,

d block; and that the said Letters Patent should em to the record 0t It is hereby above numbered patent requiring c line 38, claim 3, for "plate" rea be read with this correction therein that the same may coni the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 23rd day of April, A. D. 1935,

Les ie Frazer Acting Commissioner of Patents.

(Seal) 

